A mix of the out-of-print, out-of-the-ordinary, and the simply out-of-their-minds.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Striborg - 'Embittered Darkness'

A few whiffens past, I posted a mixtape that pretty prominently featured some of the metal stuff I was getting into (and subsequently playing on Forte.) I did you all an injustice by not posting this entire album then, so I'm doing it now.

If you aren't too familiar with the black metal genre, it's pretty cool. I got into Burzum in high school, then inevitably saw the 'Until the Light Takes Us' film and started listening to other shit. Hipsters have been kind of ruining it lately (what with 'blackgaze' n' all...c'mon guys...does EVERYTHING need a stupid fucking label? It's basically people who like the idea of metal but still have this stigma of it being lame and shit, so they don't really respect it and try to make it like My Bloody Valentine.) but there's still a lot of interesting shit coming out.

Striborg is apparently all one dude, and he's from Tasmania. I heard he lives in the woods like a hermit, but I'm not sure if that's legit. It might as well be. This, to me, is a really good introduction to black metal...it's not quite as 'evil' or whatever as Beherit...definitely stranger than Burzum, but not sissy or French enough for hipster kids to dig it. Actually, it's kinda scary. This fella sounds much more likely to cut some fuckers up than Varg on record.

The music is pretty lo-fi, which is common in the genre, but it's got this weird, organic, but somewhat hollow feeling...I dunno...I listened to it while walking around in the woods (like you're supposed to) and I was feeling it for about half the record, then got too creeped out and went home.

Tracklist:

1. Protagonist of Misanthropic Virtues
2. Wrapped in a Cocoon out of Harm's Way
3. Race of Apathy
4. In the Eerie Pre-Dawn Silence of the Cold
5. Embittered Darkness
6. Digging a Ditch to Die In

NOTE: The actual CD version of this includes the 'Isle De Morts' EP, which isn't as impressive at all. Really kind of subpar traditional black metal. Sorry if you're a completist, but that's the world of free music sharing. I liked his album 'Perceiving the World with Hate' much better than the 'Isle' EP...more similar to this stuff.